Southwark Council has been criticised for not using two key ways of bringing empty homes back into use once in the past five years – despite proclaiming a “zero-tolerance policy” for long-term empties.
The borough’s opposition Liberal Democrats slammed the Labour-controlled council for not using empty-dwelling management orders (EDMOs) or compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) over the period, despite the high number of empty homes in the borough.
The council’s action plan on empty homes said that these measures were costly, time-consuming and complex, and that it was lobbying central government to give local authorities more, and simpler, powers to requisition empty homes. But the report also said that the council would “not shy away from pursuing such measures where necessary”.
A local authority like Southwark can use an EDMO to take over certain kinds of properties if they have been empty for at least two years, and provided several other conditions are met. Councils can use CPOs to buy properties, but this is a last resort and needs permission from the government.
One in 24 homes now empty in Southwark after huge rise in second home listings
Southwark has 2,705 long-term empty homes, according to the News’ analysis of government figures – and this figure went up fifteen per cent last year. One home in 25 is either long-term empty or a second home. In terms of sheer numbers, Southwark has the highest level of long-term empty homes in London, according to the group’s figures, although it has more homes outright than many other boroughs.
The news comes after waves of criticism for the council for its controversial ‘infilling’ policy of tackling the housing crisis by building new social rent homes on existing estates. Critics of the policy have pointed to the level of long-term empty homes in Southwark as an alternative source of housing.
Chris Bailey, campaigns manager at pressure group Action on Empty Homes, said that the council was charging premium council tax rates on a significantly higher proportion of its long-term empty homes than many other boroughs, like Lambeth.
Mr Bailey said that while he had sympathy for Labour and he didn’t think the picture was black and white, it was “quite legitimate for the Liberals to ask why [EDMOs] aren’t being used.” He added that he would be surprised if many local authorities had used CPOs over the past five years.
He added: “Yes, Labour probably should be doing more. Yes they have a bad problem. But they are certainly charging people extra for tax. It’s a tricky question to answer in terms of assessing their action on empty homes.”
Nearly three times as many empty council homes in Southwark now than ten years ago
Discussing Labour’s failure to use the measures, Cllr Hamish McCallum, Southwark Liberal Democrat group leader, said: “Enough is enough: Southwark Labour’s housing policy in the past decade has been a failure and it is only getting worse. With over 16,000 households on its housing waiting list and a soaring number of empty properties, it is scandalous that the council is not fully using the powers it has to stem this tide.”
Responding, Labour sought to shift the blame onto the Liberal Democrats, whose national party’s coalition government with the Conservatives made it harder for local authorities to take empty homes back into use with EDMOs and CPOs.
Labour cabinet member for a safer cleaner borough, Cllr Darren Merrill, said: “The Liberal Democrats were in coalition in 2012 when the government at the time made it very difficult to use empty homes legislation. They put the burden on councils to demonstrate that a home was causing concerns around anti-social behaviour, increased the term from six months to two years when defining empty homes and changed the definition of an empty home to mean that if it is furnished, the legislation cannot be used.
“The empty homes issue has been highlighted by the Council improving its data on which homes are genuinely empty and Southwark Labour is doing what it can. We have written to the previous housing and communities minister asking for the process to be simplified…, we have introduced grants for homeowners to bring properties back into use and investing by putting money in for a new empty homes team and putting forward a £2m CPO fund.”